Dorian Prelude

for Orchestra

Robert Maggio

Quick Overview

In Wilde?s novel, Dorian Gray somehow manages to make a Faustian pact (with an internal devil?) in order to exchange places with his portrait, thus preserving himself as a work of art. Dorian Prelude may be interpreted using Wilde?s story as a program: the dramatic structure of the music closely resembles that of the novel, as it contrasts the unnatural preservation of Dorian?s physical appearance (despite the advance of time) with the slow, secret decay of his portrait (and thus his soul).

"Dorian Prelude" was commissioned and premiered by the New York Youth Symphony, Samuel Wong, music director, November 26, 1989, in Carnegie Hall, New York, NY.